Lafayette Christian overwhelms Berwick, 43-13

Berwick High School got a great start in its nondistrict contest against Lafayette Christian Friday.
The Panthers moved the ball 65 yards in eight plays and took a 7-0 lead with 8:17 remaining in the first quarter on Braden Billiot’s 24-yard touchdown run.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, Lafayette Christian countered, and once they started, the Knights were hard to stop, rolling to a 43-13 win.
Lafayette Christian scored touchdowns on four of its five first-half possessions en route to a 29-7 halftime lead.
The Knights were led on offense by quarterback Regan Miller and running back Jeremy Joseph. Miller rushed for two first-half touchdowns and passed for another, while Joseph scored another touchdown. The Knights also recorded a safety.
Miller tossed a touchdown pass to Myles Lawrence to tie the game at 7 against Berwick with 7:09 remaining in the first half, and he scored the Knight’s next touchdown on a 5-yard run with 8:17 remaining in the second quarter to give the Knights the lead for good.
The Knights extended its lead quickly thereafter as a snap from the Berwick 14 yard line got past quarterback Collin Louviere and Louviere was tackled in the end zone by Lafayette Christian’s Dylan Hargrave for a safety at the 7:21 mark.
After Berwick’s Jeremy Boudreaux launched a free kick to Lafayette Christian following the safety, the Knights needed little time to reach the end zone again.
With the ball at the Berwick 44, Miller ran for 24 yards on first down. A personal foul penalty on Berwick gave the Knights 15 more yards on the play and a first-down at the Berwick 17 yard line.
On the next carry, Miller scored on a 17-yard run with 6:59 remaining.
Joseph would add another touchdown at the 4:04 mark.
After a successful first drive in the ball game, Berwick moved the ball down to the Lafayette Christian 24 yard line to begin its second drive. However, the drive stalled when Hunter Thibodeaux sacked Boudreaux on fourth down.
Berwick could not sustain a drive longer than four plays the remainder of the half.
Berwick’s first offensive drive of the second half ended after four plays and on the punt, Lafayette Christian blocked the punt, giving them the ball at the Berwick 14.
On the first play, Miller scored on a 14-yard run to increase Lafayette Christian’s lead to 36-7 with 7:48 remaining in the third quarter.
Berwick had more success on its next drive, moving the ball down to the Lafayette Christian 40-yard line.
However, Boudreaux fumbled, and it was recovered by Josh Jackson.
The Knights converted the turnover into points following a lengthy drive when Miller hit Bryce Badon for a 7-yard touchdown completion with 15.4 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Miller finished 5-of-7 passing for 115 yards and a score, while he rushed 17 times for 154 yards and three touchdowns.
Joseph rushed 13 times for 124 yards and a score for Lafayette Christian.
Lafayette Christian finished the game with 432 yards of offense, including 317 rushing on 39 carries.
Berwick, after forcing a field goal attempt on a Lafayette Christian possession that was no good, ran out much of the remaining clock with a 10-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a 23-yard touchdown run by Billiot.
Billiot led Berwick’s offense with 21 carries for 145 yards and two touchdowns.
Boudreaux added 20 carries for 58 yards.
Berwick totaled 190 yards of offense, 180 of those rushing.
Berwick (2-5) will return to District 9-3A action Friday when it travels to face Donaldsonville.